Arizona's Rep. Grijalva meets woman with dementia in emotional 1st visit to ICE detention center

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, spent Wednesday morning in Eloy and Florence — visiting some of the thousands of immigrants being held in ICE detention nationwide.

The trip marked Grijalva’s first visit to an ICE facility since winning her election last year.

Grijalva spoke to reporters over gusts of wind outside the Eloy Detention Center, south of Phoenix. She said she met with a Cuban asylum seeker who has advancing dementia. Grijalva held back tears while discussing the visit.

“[She’s] incredibly confused, doesn’t know why she’s here … thought she was going to be here for five days. It was heartbreaking because, as we were leaving, she thought we were going to pick her up and take her home,” she said. “I don’t know how to better articulate how heartbreaking that was for me to sit through, she truly had no idea why she’s here."

As the Arizona Daily Star reports, 79-year-old Julia Benitrez has been detained for the last 9 months, after crossing the border and surrendering to Border Patrol agents. Her daughter, a lawful permanent resident living in Miami, has tried to get her released on humanitarian grounds, according to the Star, but those requests have been denied — part of what immigration attorneys say is a policy of blanket denials for release.

“These blanket denials from this administration are having catastrophic, heartbreaking, heartbreaking results, for so many people, like abuela,” Grijalva said.

The lawmaker said officials at Eloy told her some 1,300 people are being held the facility currently, nearing the site's capacity of 1,500, and that there had been a notable increase in the number of elderly people like Benitrez.

Grijalva said she was also told the facility had nine medical providers employed and is in need of two additional medical workers to be fully staffed.

Some 73,000 people were being held in ICE detention as of late January, according to ICE data, marking a new record.

Several members of Arizona’s congressional delegation have visited ICE facilities in the state in recent months, including Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D).

This week, Ansari said she would not attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address later this month amid the continued detention of Arbella “Yari” Marquez, a longtime Phoenix resident with leukemia who’s been held at Eloy since early 2025.